Stretching device.



No. 807,588. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. G. S. WEAVER & G. H. LOUNSBERRY.

STRETGHING DEVICE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR.20, 1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIG.

CHARLES S. WEAVER AND GEORGE H. LOUNSBERRY, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

STRETCHING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed March 20, 1905- Serial No. 250,991.

United States, residing at Duluth, in the,

county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stretching Devices; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to stretching devices, and has for its object the provision of an implement or device for stretching expanded metal lath.

With this and other objects in view it consists of the constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a series of joists and a planview of aportion of our said invention in the operation of stretching expanded metal lath along said joists. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a modified arrangement and additional portion of said invention. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of said invention. Fig. 4 is a front view of one of the hooks, of preferred form, forming part of said invention; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of said hook.

In the drawings, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 represent joists, to one of which, as at P, is secured by any suitable means one end of a strip of expanded metal lath 6, a well-knowncommodity and not thought necessary to be herein more particularly described. In order to bring such strip properly to place along such row of oists before permanently securing it thereto, it is desirable to have some powerful stretching means that can engage the strip of lath and stretch it and hold it in proper position while it is being nailed or otherwise permanently secured to the joists. For this purpose we provide the stretcher, comprising the lever-arm 7 and the skeleton hand 8, pivotally connected thereto, as at 9, and provided with the hooks or fingers 10, which fingers are adapted to project through the perforations or mesh of said strip of expanded lath and engage said strip. We preferably provide a plural number of pivot-holes 9 in said arm, so that the hand may, if desired, be pivoted at one or another place thereon as the variant conditions governing its use may require.

We also provide a hook 11, removably secured to said arm, and a chain or other flexible means 12, adapted to engage said hook and provided at its free end with a hook or finger 10, preferably similar to said fingers 10. In operation after said strip has been secured to a joist, as at 1, the fingers on said hand are engaged with such strip of expanded lath, and if another joist, as 3, is in a convenient position for use as a fulcrum one end of the lever is placed against such other joist,

as clearly shown in said Fig. 1, and manual or any other suitable power is applied to the opposite end of said arm or lever to stretch said strip into proper position. If no convenient fulcrum is at hand against which said lever may directly bear, the chain or flexible means 12 is secured to said hook 11, and the hooks or fingers 1O onzsaid chain are engaged with such joist or fulcrum as may be suitably reached by it. The operative portion of said chain may bejfshortened or extended, according to which link thereof is engaged with said hook. It is obvious that when said lever approaches near to the end of the building, (indicated by the broken line extending from the joist 5,) it can no longer be worked to advantage in that direction. A separate strip of such lath may then be secured at one end to said joist 5, and the stretcher may be turned over and engaged therewith and worked in the opposite direction until the ends of the two strips meet upon a joist forming a support common to each of such strips. In the latter case the part 8 is preferably pivoted at the end of the arm 7, as shown in Fig. 2,- and the hooks or fingers 10 are engaged with the strip 6 or projected through said strip and engaged witha joist, as 3, which thus forms a purchase for said lever when drawing the opposite strip to position. The hand 8 is preferably made in skeleton form, as shown, so that access to the strip may be had through the back of the hand for the purpose of nailing the strip to the joist.

While we have illustrated certain hooks 10 and 10 we do not desire to be limited to hooks of that special construction, since it is evident that said device or various details thereof may be modified in many particulars without-departing from the spirit and scope of our invention.

Having now described our invention,what

including a transversely-directed bar at lts free end, a series of pairs of fingers carried by said bar, flexible means adjustably secured 15 at one end to said lever and provided With attaching means at its free end.

In testimony whereof We hereunto afliX our signatures in presence of tWo Witnesses.

CHARLES S. WEAVER. GEORGE H. LOUNSBERRY. i/Vitnesses:

JAMES T. WATSON, WILLIAM J. STEVENSON. 

